Global financial headlines from last night and this morning primarily focused on:
1. US-Iran Talks Loom as Trump Threatens to Resume Strikes Should Negotiations Fail 2. US Administration Downplays Elevated Inflation Data, Claims Energy Price Shock Will Fade "Very Quickly" 3. CoreWeave Stock Rises 10% Following Partnership Agreement with Anthropic 4. Prominent Investor Michael Burry Acquires Stakes in JD.com and Alibaba 5. Iran Appears Unmoved by Trump Threats as Vessel Traffic Through Strait of Hormuz Stays Minimal 6. White House Warns Federal Employees Against Profiting from Non-Public Information
Ahead of planned direct talks between the United States and Iran, set to take place in Pakistan, the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. Concurrent hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah further complicate efforts to transform a fragile ceasefire into lasting peace. A ceasefire reached earlier this week between the US and Iran was largely holding across the Middle East on Friday. An exception was Lebanon, where it remained unclear whether Israeli actions against the Iran-backed Hezbollah fell within the scope of the truce. Israel continued strikes on southern Lebanese towns, albeit with less intensity than the large-scale operation on Wednesday that resulted in over 200 deaths. Hezbollah stated it had launched drones and rockets toward Israel. The Lebanese ceasefire was cited as one of the measures that "must be implemented before negotiations begin," according to a post on X by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Another measure was the "release of Iran's frozen assets," though he provided no further details.
The US government released data on Friday showing a significant rise in the inflation rate, influenced by the conflict involving Iran. However, the White House sought to downplay the report. The latest data from the US Labor Department indicated the largest monthly increase in consumer prices since 2022. Overall prices rose 3.3% year-over-year, driven by higher prices at gasoline stations. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, showed a more moderate year-over-year increase of 2.6%, coming in below market expectations. The White House focused primarily on this core figure. Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai stated that the US economy "remains on a steady path," but also acknowledged rising food and gasoline prices in a statement. He specifically noted that prices for certain goods, from eggs and prescription drugs to televisions, "are declining or remaining stable due to President Trump's policies."
Shares of CoreWeave Inc. closed 10% higher on Friday after the company announced a multi-year agreement with artificial intelligence firm Anthropic. The AI cloud services provider will supply computational power to Anthropic for building and running its AI models. CoreWeave stated that Anthropic will use its cloud services for production-scale computing tasks. The collaboration will be phased in initially, with an option for both parties to expand the agreement in the future. The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal, including pricing and the scale of chip computing power involved. Previous reports indicated that Anthropic is also considering designing its own semiconductors to address the shortage of AI chips.
US-listed shares of JD.com rose 2.2% on Friday after prominent investor Michael Burry disclosed that he had purchased stock in the e-commerce company. In a post on Substack, Burry indicated he had also bought shares of Alibaba. "JD.com is a significant addition, and Alibaba is a new position, slightly above 6%," the post, accessible to paid subscribers, stated, adding that JD.com was "slightly above that proportion." Recent weakness in JD.com's stock provided a "highly attractive entry point." Additionally, Burry wrote that he had increased his position in GameStop, "adding to an already substantial holding," and that he had also purchased stock in Fiserv.
As both sides prepare for diplomatic talks this weekend, Trump's calls for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz appear to have had little effect. Successful passage through the strait remains largely limited to vessels associated with Tehran. Despite Washington stating that Strait navigation was a precondition for the ceasefire, only nine vessel transits have been observed since early Thursday morning—five exiting the Persian Gulf and four entering. Among the most significant was the Suezmax tanker Tour 2, which carried approximately one million barrels of Iranian crude out of the waterway. A Russian-flagged very large crude carrier, the Arhimeda, traveled in the opposite direction toward Iran's main export terminal at Kharg Island. The latest transit activity related to Iran, combined with an apparent lack of movement from other vessels, suggests Iran maintains strong control over the Strait of Hormuz.
The White House last month warned its staff against using non-public information for financial market trading. This followed concerns about insider trading raised by a series of well-timed crude oil trades and predictive market bets related to the Iran conflict. A White House official confirmed that an email had been sent to staff. The official emphasized that federal regulations prohibit government employees from using non-public information for personal gain and also forbid gambling activities on government devices. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle stated: "President Trump has been very clear: he is committed to keeping the stock market strong and generating gains for everyone, but members of Congress and other government officials should be prohibited from using non-public information for financial benefit. The only special interest that guides President Trump is the highest interest of the American people."
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